1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to common channel signaling networks, and more specifically to a connection-oriented congestion controller for the signaling connection control part (SCCP) of the CCITT signaling system number 7 for ISDN (integrated services digital network).
2. Description of the Related Art
According to CCITT Recommendations Q.711-Q.714 for Signaling System Number 7, the signaling connection control part (SCCP) is situated between the user layer and the message transfer part (MTP) to support both connectionless and connection-oriented network services between signaling nodes, The signaling connection control part temporarily hold data messages when flow control is being effected and monitors available resources. If the amount of available resources becomes smaller than a prescribed value, a limit is imposed on new connection requests so that the number of established connections is held constant.
However, there is no mechanism for providing flow control on the established connections. Because of the lacking of the flow control mechanism, the prior art signaling connection control part is unable to match demand and available resources and as a result it cannot cope with a rapid increase in traffic without data loss and clear-down of established connections.